This is a list of forms of electricity named after scientists. The terms in this list are mostly archaic usages but are found in many 19th and early 20th-century publications.

Adjectives

; faradic : Of electricity that is alternating, especially when obtained from an

induction coil An induction coil or "spark coil" (archaically known as an inductorium or Ruhmkorff coil after Heinrich Rühmkorff) is a type of electrical transformer used to produce high-voltage pulses from a low-voltage direct current (DC) supply. p.98 To ...

. Named after

Michael Faraday Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...

who built the first electromagnetic

generator Generator may refer to: * Signal generator, electronic devices that generate repeating or non-repeating electronic signals * Electric generator, a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. * Generator (circuit theory), an eleme ...

. ; galvanic : Of electricity that is not alternating. Named after

Luigi Galvani Luigi Galvani (, also ; ; la, Aloysius Galvanus; 9 September 1737 – 4 December 1798) was an Italian physician, physicist, biologist and philosopher, who studied animal electricity. In 1780, he discovered that the muscles of dead frogs' legs ...

. ; voltaic : Of electricity derived from an

electrochemical cell An electrochemical cell is a device capable of either generating electrical energy from chemical reactions or using electrical energy to cause chemical reactions. The electrochemical cells which generate an electric current are called voltaic o ...

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

. Named after

Alessandro Volta Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta (, ; 18 February 1745 – 5 March 1827) was an Italian physicist, chemist and lay Catholic who was a pioneer of electricity and power who is credited as the inventor of the electric battery and the ...

who built the first battery, the

voltaic pile upright=1.2, Schematic diagram of a copper–zinc voltaic pile. The copper and zinc discs were separated by cardboard or felt spacers soaked in salt water (the electrolyte). Volta's original piles contained an additional zinc disk at the bottom, ...

. In most contexts it can be considered a synonym of ''galvanic''.

Nouns (applications)

; Faradization :

Electrotherapy Electrotherapy is the use of electrical energy as a medical treatment. In medicine, the term ''electrotherapy'' can apply to a variety of treatments, including the use of electrical devices such as deep brain stimulators for neurological dise ...

treatment of a person with faradic electricity. Coined by

Duchenne de Boulogne Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne (de Boulogne) (September 17, 1806 in Boulogne-sur-Mer – September 15, 1875 in Paris) was a French neurologist who revived Galvani's research and greatly advanced the science of electrophysiology. The era of mo ...

and named after Michael Faraday. ; Franklinization : Electrotherapy by charging a person to high voltage with

static electricity Static electricity is an imbalance of electric charges within or on the surface of a material or between materials. The charge remains until it is able to move away by means of an electric current or electrical discharge. Static electricity is na ...

. Named after

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

. ; d'Arsonvalization : Electrotherapy treatment of a person with high

frequency Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. It is also occasionally referred to as ''temporal frequency'' for clarity, and is distinct from ''angular frequency''. Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz) which is eq ...

electricity. Named after

Jacques-Arsène d'Arsonval Jacques-Arsène d'Arsonval (8 June 1851 – 31 December 1940) was a French physician, physicist and inventor of the moving-coil D'Arsonval galvanometer and the thermocouple ammeter. D'Arsonval was an important contributor to the emerging field of ...

Nouns (forms)

; Faradism : Faradic electricity ; Franklinism : High voltage static electricity as used in FranklinizationMartellucci, p. 4 ;

Galvanism Galvanism is a term invented by the late 18th-century physicist and chemist Alessandro Volta to refer to the generation of electric current by chemical action. The term also came to refer to the discoveries of its namesake, Luigi Galvani, specif ...

: Originally, voltaic electricity, but can also be used to distinguish Galvani's animal electricity from Volta's chemical/metal contact electricity

References

Bibliography

* Borck, Cornelius, ''Brainwaves: A Cultural History of Electroencephalography'', Routledge, 2018 . * Chalovich, Joseph M
'Franklinization: Early Therapeutic Use of Static Electricity''
ScholarShip, East Carolina University, 23 January 2012. * Martellucci, Jacopo (ed), ''Electrical Stimulation for Pelvic Floor Disorders'', Springer, 2014 . * de la Peňa, Carolyn Thomas, ''The Body Electric: How Strange Machines Built the Modern American'', New York University Press, 2005 . * Pinchuck, LS; Nikolaev, VI; Tsetkova, EA; Goldade, VA, ''Tribology and Biophysics of Artificial Joints'', Elsevier, 2005 . * Tate, Thomas, ''On Magnetism, Voltaic Electricity, and Electrodynamics'', London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1854 . * de Young, Mary, ''Encyclopedia of Asylum Therapeutics, 1750-1950s'', McFarland, 2015 {{ISBN, 0786468971.

Electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...

Electricity